After a slight hiccup in the posting schedule I’m back in the saddle. Life happens and we live it, and it’s all good folks.

So I was thinking about the long term plan for this comic. I have avoided saying much about it until I had a decent number of pages under my belt and some time has passed. Now that I’m getting more acclimated to the setting and the characters I feel like I can make a few statements about the future.

For one thing, you just finished reading Chapter One: Hermit to Bojo. I wasn’t sure if I’d define chapters or not, but I think it is best for me to do so. Having clear divisions in the story helps me gauge my progress and gives me moments to pause and change point of view or add some colorful narration. So on Wednesday we’ll begin Chapter Two: The Tomb.

One other thing I wanted to mention is that I plan to keep the format constant within major story arcs, but I may allow it to be dynamic between them. What I mean is, once I’ve brought the current story arc to a satisfactory conclusion (whatever that happens to be) I may change the comic’s format and/or posting frequency. I was toying with the idea of doing a story in strip format (basically half the size of the current pages) and updating twice a week. Also I had the idea to do a story composed of single panels, standard in size, and post every day. But we’ll wait and see what Miss Muse and her lovely entourage of scantily clad Musettes has in store for me…their whipping boy.

Congratulations to Sam Hodge for being the only person to guess where the quote on page 18 came from. I actually closed the contest but Sam popped in just after that with the answer and since I really, really wanted to have a winner…well, he won. The Untouchables was the answer, of course.

And here’s Sam’s freebie sketch. The subject is one I’ve never tackled before…She-Hulk!

I’ve added a few blog categories that I hope to be populating very soon. They are Setting, Characters, and Monsters. If you’re familiar with RPGs at all you’ll know immediately what these mean.

Setting posts will give you some insights into the world of Zyn Dweomer. Characters posts will be portraits and information about the characters of the comic. Monsters posts will give you details about various creatures that appear in the comic.

I don’t like to post things that have not actually appeared yet. I feel like it hems in the story too much. But once an idea or a monster is presented then I feel more confident that I can reveal things about it. Having it appear in the comic makes it “real” and not just an idea in a sketchbook.

The City of Zyn Dweomer

There are eight Districts in the city: Boner Bay, Workalot Downs, Low Streets, Palace Place, High Streets, Devilways, Sprawllum, and Shaky Snake. Palace Place is the District in which the Prince himself lives and as such is considered the seat of power. But each District operates semi-independent of the Prince, having its own Baron or Council that runs affairs internally. The Prince himself is happy enough to let the Districts do as they will so long as he is paid taxes appropriately and everyone pays him the respect of at least pretending to be at his beck and call.

The city has many facets and many secrets but it is the class of Adventurers - those who go forth and confront monsters and other challenges in the name of civilization and a paycheck - who are always in the spotlight of public interest. Like great sports heroes, they command legions of fans and invariably work themselves into positions of political power or influence. Nearly every prominent individual in the city either is or was an Adventurer at some point.

The city is the springboard from which Adventurers begin their careers. With its myriad hidden crevices, underground tombs, and high earthy towers it offers constant challenge to the brave or stupid.

Outside the city walls lie the countryside, the valley, and many realms beyond.

Naola Firsthander is the leader of the Westwood Company, a Band she formed in that roughneck region outsite the city walls near Low Streets District. Growing up in the forest enabled her to learn the skills of hunting and archery. Growing up poor and hunted by goblins and other nasties taught her that being an Adventurer was the only way to be truly successful. Better to be the hunter than the hunted.

Hurke (aka Hurkelton Wuddlefoot) is a free agent Adventurer, or Soloist. He comes out of the aptly named District of Devilways and is the son of the High Priestess of H’ssi, Goddess of Sex and Death. Though he has only been in the business a short time his reputation as a skilled, tenacious fighter is growing rapidly. The only problem is his mom…everyone considers her to be quite insane.

Rin Rin Volar is what you might call a “street wizard”. His background is rough and mixed, his spells are often hijacked, hotwired affairs with lots of creative personal touches. He likes to experiment with mind altering magical concoctions in pursuit of the ultimate arcane rush. When he’s not busy doing that, he works as an Adventurer in the Westwood Company.